


No Love Without Valor

by BeetlesMcGee



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, I'm gonna change like A Bunch so please try to keep an open mind, Kirito never did wake up in the real world, M/M, Nothing except Alicization has happened, Slow Burn, The Underworld isn't virtual, some other characters still exist, the modern world doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-14 19:36:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19279777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeetlesMcGee/pseuds/BeetlesMcGee
Summary: The Integrity Knight used a simple sacred art as he took Alice away.One that was supposed to merely knock a target back.He'd forgotten how frail children were.Hadn't thought it would be enough to put an eleven-year-old Kirito into a five year coma.And there is no 'real' world of modern technology to wake up to, not when the Underworld is plenty real already.With no prior experience, and the other games not even existing, Kirito and Eugeo have to take quite a different route if they want to rescue Alice.A route that could even affect their feelings for one another in the process...------------------------------Basically, making Alicization more of a traditional isekai by just removing the fact that it's virtual, then throwing it in a blender with a heap of gay shit, a heap of original ideas and alterations, a dash of characters from prior series, and a pinch of salt.





	1. Wake

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah. Underworld being a real stand-alone does have downsides when it comes to the angles of drama, motivation, and conflict that are possible, but on the other hand… I felt that Alicization was usually boring whenever it wasn’t focused directly on the Underworld’s events, so this gives me much more freedom. Also, I have no real interest in finishing any past material besides the first 24 episodes, SAO and Alfheim. (I still thought Alternative was boring too, tbh)
> 
> I’m also going to be doing my Own Thing here with a bunch of things and events, because while the original material has tons of good ideas, I don’t want to be entirely beholden to it. It also becomes necessary in order to make the Underworld actually work as stand-alone, without everything else to back it up.
> 
> As for non-Alicization characters, a bunch of them just live in this world now too, but most of them don’t show up right away. Rulid is still a small village, and I still want to capture Eugeo’s loneliness.
> 
> Plus, I’ll fully admit that Yujikiri is my number 1 motivator here. I haven't given a damn about SAO in years, so this is basically to free myself from all the parts I don't really care about.

Two young boys stood among a gathered crowd in a simple town square, staring in utter disbelief at the sight before them.  A young girl with blonde hair was tied up in restraints before a massive white dragon and a terrifyingly imposing knight…  
  
“Alice!  Alice! Eugeo, come on, we have to save her!” one boy cried, looking towards his friend with wide eyes.  
  
“Kirito…” Eugeo said quietly, trembling in every limb.  “W-what should we do, then?” he asked, not knowing how much he was really expecting.  Kirito always knew what to do… but then again, they were up against not just guards, but an honest-to-gods Integrity Knight… The very idea of this, it was anathema to his very nature...    
  
“I’ll distract them, you grab Alice and run!”  Kirito responded, as he raced forward...

The Integrity Knight merely turned toward Kirito.  Looked at him. In that brief instant, Kirito was swallowed by a sense of immeasurable dread, and deep scorn.  As if he were merely a bug to be swatted at.

A vague outline of sheer kinetic force flew out like an arrow, blurring towards Kirito with unbelievable speed.  He didn’t even actually see it. The effect seemed as if it were instant. The sacred art slammed into Kirito with such force that Kirito was knocked off his feet, the wind completely knocked out of him as he sailed backwards, completely unable to breathe and just beginning to feel searing pain spread through his chest and stomach.  The last thing he felt was the back of his head smashing with a jolt of sickening agony against the hard cobblestone of the ground... and the last thing he saw was Eugeo, standing over him with teary eyes, shouting his name over and over, as guards tried to pull him away.

Kirito’s vision steadily went black.  “Kirito… Kirito!” was the last thing he heard, before his consciousness slipped away entirely.

* * *

 

Kirito woke up some time later, leaving behind a strange, smudgy, foggy dream of indistinct shapes and voices.  How _much_ later, he hadn’t the foggiest idea.  All he knew was that he felt terribly strange.  Like his head was full of cotton, his mouth was completely parched, and his whole body was made of aching lead.  Even so much as moving his fingers and toes took a concerted effort.

The room Kirito was in wasn’t actually all that bright, and it looked to be sometime during early morning… but for some reason, his eyes were feeling incredibly sensitive.  He could barely keep them open as he puzzled over where he actually was, and what he’d been doing last.

He struggled to even so much as call out, coughing and gasping for air as he realized how weak his voice was… Gods, he was _thirsty._

“Water… water!”  Kirito rasped out, as he weakly struggled in his bed..  Fortunately, he attracted the attention of someone soon enough… They were a nurse, by the looks of things.  Young woman, light brown hair... So it was the hospital, then? He looked around. It did look vaguely familiar, so that seemed about right.  Their hospital wasn’t large or fancy, so that about matched up with the room he was in. Humble, cozy, simple.

“You’re… you’re finally awake…”  the nurse said to him, but as he repeated his request again, she quickly got to work.  Notably, all she did was grab a cup off of a nearby counter, then hold a finger over it.  Water merely started pouring out of her finger when she muttered something indistinct.

Kirito’s eyes widened at that, as his mind briefly struggled to remember that what he was seeing was a sacred art.  But as she held the water out, he didn’t question it. He was too thirsty to care. With that, he clumsily guzzled it all down as fast as possible, nearly choking in the process.  He was strong enough to at least hold a glass of water, but his hands were still rather unsteady.  
  
Once he was done, he shakily put the glass down on a small table next to the bed, and let out a deep sigh of partial relief.  He still didn’t feel _great_ by any means, but the water had been cold, clean, and refreshing.  
  
“Hold on, honey.  I’m going to call the doctor,” the nurse said.  She whispered something, forming what looked vaguely like a ball of air in front of her mouth, glowing a faint pastel green.  It seemed like such a slow and gradual process that Kirito couldn’t help but flinch when the nurse closed her mouth and the ball flared to life, shooting out of the door so fast that Kirito’s eyes couldn’t even begin to track it.

The doctor showed up before long, a middle-aged man with brown, greying hair.  
  
“Ah, Kirito!  So it’s really true!  You’ve finally woken up!  I’m Doctor Echina. Now, before I inform anyone else about this, there are a few tests, and I trust that you probably have things you want to speak about privately, and things you want to know.  First things first, you’ve been asleep for over five and a half years,” the doctor said, somewhat ruefully. “But for you to have woken up at all… that’s truly a miracle.”  
  
“...F-five and a half…”  Kirito numbly repeated, his voice small and raspy.  He mentally repeated the unsettling tidbit of information to himself over and over again.  How could it have _possibly_ been that long?  He could buy a week, or a month, but more than _five years?  “_ How… w-why?”  
  
“...You don’t remember?”  the doctor asked with a frown.  Kirito shook his head. “Well… the measures we had to take to save you were somewhat drastic, so I suppose a bit of memory loss is to be expected.  Anyway. The accident happened when you were eleven, and your friend Alice… violated the Taboo Index.”  
  
Kirito’s eyes widened at that.  The name… the name was a little familiar.  But the mention of Taboo Index… He knew that.  He always did, and always would, whether he liked it or not.  
  
“And… then what?”  Kirito asked, struggling to speak loudly enough to be heard.  He felt so weak it was appalling.

“I wasn’t there personally, but there were many witnesses.  It was an accident. There was an Integrity Knight assigned to take Alice away… You resisted, so he hastily used an art that was too powerful for you, one that normally just knocks opponents back.  However, his power is enormous, and he was too accustomed to his targets being adults. He forgot to account for the fact that besides just the considerable damage of the initial impact, it would also send you flying backwards a lot more forcefully than usual.  So besides just that excessively powerful first strike, you also smashed the back of your head against the pavement of the town square. You were so young at the time, your body couldn’t take it,”

Kirito winced at that.  He was sort of glad he didn’t remember it very well.  Still… “...An _Integrity Knight_ did this to me?”  Kirito asked. Even in his addled state, he could tell how scandalous it sounded.  Putting a kid in a coma had nothing to do with ‘integrity’.

“Yes.  It was a hot topic for a while… but most people agreed that you didn’t deserve something as harsh as that.  Now, if it’d been just the spell, you probably could’ve been all patched up in a few days… But brain damage makes everything far trickier.  The brain is the most intricate thing in the body, and you almost died to boot. There’s no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to that.  Even the best methods in all the land would take time,” the doctor said, sighing deeply.  
  
“But…”  Kirito forced himself to focus his still-clouded thoughts as best he could.  “The Integrity Knight… are you saying he didn’t do anything to help me?”  
  
“They did, actually.  Even if you did resist, you were only a child.  His actions towards you were deemed excessively harsh and irresponsible.  Even if it was supposed to be a weak art, there was no need for an offensive art at all when a shield or restraint would’ve done the job.  Arrangements were made for your family to receive compensation, and that’s what’s been funding your treatment. A specialist had to be called in to cast the arts that have been sustaining you and slowly repairing you all this time.  Such powers are still beyond me. All I can do is keep it going, and even then, I require specialized potions that have to be imported here. It’s a little like being able to stoke a fire, but not being able to make one. Even then, in this analogy, the fire needs to be stoked in very particular way, with a very particular fuel.”

Kirito accepted that explanation smoothly enough, so Dr. Echina moved on to the tests… which were fortunately pretty simple, for the most part, with the most unpleasant thing just being a withdrawal of some blood.  Other than that, he often just stood over him with faintly glowing eyes, looking at something only he was seeing for the time being.  
  
World scrying, the ability to see deeper into the nature of everything around you.  An extremely basic ability, known by all to at least a basic extent… but still, further mastery of it was as fine an art as any.

Once tests were over, multiple people came, summoned by the same ball of wind art that seemed to be for transmitting messages.  Kirito did his best to be kind, although he hardly remembered most of them. He at least tried his best to keep track of them, hoping he’d recall more information later… Mom, Dad, Suguha, an aunt and uncle, his grandmother, a girl named Selka, the village elder… and finally, Eugeo.

The young man, that ‘Eugeo’… how did they know each other, again?  He looked really familiar, but different at the same time… and his voice was only slightly familiar.  Kirito supposed it would change, given that they’d been so much younger before… But that meant the vague familiarity wasn’t nearly as apparent there as it was in his face.

Soft green eyes,  smooth blond hair, kind and genuine features…  Even not quite remembering who Eugeo was, Kirito had to admit, something about him felt oddly comforting and trustworthy.

“Kirito! You finally woke up!  I knew you would!” Eugeo said, sitting down on the bed to hug Kirito in a way that felt like he only remembered to be gentle halfway through. “I know the doctor said your memory is having problems… but if you don’t remember me yet, that’s fine.  I’m just glad you finally woke up,” Eugeo continued.

“Eugeo…”  Kirito said quietly, hoping that saying the name himself would jog his memory.  There were some vague things, more feeling and impression than true memory, but he supposed it was good enough for the time being.  “I… I think I remember,” Kirito said, eliciting a massive grin from Eugeo.

* * *

From there, things slowly settled into a new “normal”.

Apparently, even with magic, waking up from a coma and expecting to jump right back into completely normal life was a lot to ask.

While Kirito was allowed to go home pretty soon, there was physical therapy and follow-up at the hospital most days of the week.

Kirito was given a supply of strength potions to drink a couple of times per day, but they were only a stopgap measure until his body built up some _real_ strength again.  Over-reliance would ironically just overtax his body and hurt him in the long run.  Not to mention, they did absolutely nothing for coordination, reflexes, or flexibility.  He could walk with an old wooden cane he’d been given, but he still had low stamina, and there were still times when he was spectacularly clumsy.

What that led to was the slightly embarrassing phenomenon of Eugeo always walking Kirito to and from therapy, and _always_ holding his hand the whole way, with the only exception being if they stopped to sit down.  Even at the expense of cutting into time he could be using for his Calling.  
  
Kirito didn’t like to admit it, but he did kind of need the help.  Suguha would do it just as readily, but Eugeo was always politely insistent on it.  Plus, Kirito did appreciate that Eugeo was more than strong enough to help him keep his balance, or catch him if he tripped.

"If I remember one thing, it's that it was _not_ this much of a pain in the ass to walk...  And you weren't taller than me, I'm pretty sure,"  Kirito said during one trip to therapy, as he carefully watched the ground to keep track of his steps.

“At least no one can say we look related now…”  Eugeo said with a short laugh.  
  
“They said that?”  Kirito asked.  
  
“Oh, all the time!  I didn’t really mind it in itself, it was more that the joke just got a bit old… But even so, they weren’t exactly wrong.  We had similar faces, and we kept growing at almost the exact same pace. For years, we were nearly the exact same height and weight.  We used to share clothes all the time, and our wardrobes were really similar anyway.”

Kirito was quiet at that as he studied Eugeo, trying to see how exactly they’d ever looked so alike.  Eugeo had gotten perhaps about two inches taller than him, and he was definitely broader and more filled out than Kirito, who was still borderline underweight.  Where Kirito’s sleeves hung a bit from his frail arms, Eugeo’s sleeves were a somewhat snug fit to his. In certain positions, it was still readily obvious he had strong biceps.

Kirito wasn’t exactly sure why he found it a bit difficult to look away.  Maybe he was just still shocked by how much his friend changed while also being so similar…  At least, he got the feeling he was similar to before. His memories were slowly returning, but it was a sluggish process.  He’d been told that even remembering as much as he did was already lucky, thanks to how tricky it was to employ sacred arts on the brain.

Kirito soon paid for his excessive focus when he tripped on a crack, and Eugeo just barely caught him when he clumsily failed to catch himself with his cane.  
  
“Careful!”  Eugeo cried.  “You’re already recovering… I can’t let you get even more hurt…”  Eugeo said softly, as he gingerly took Kirito’s hand again.

“Thanks…”  Kirito said.  “Sorry, I guess I’m kind of like an old man now,”  he continued, forcing a laugh. “Bad memory, clumsy, frail, always needing help…”  Kirito vaguely remembered how he used to make fun of old people sometimes. He couldn’t remember actually doing it to their faces, but either way, he deeply wished he hadn’t at all.  It really _was_ difficult.

Kirito had tried to frame it like a joke, but Eugeo still didn’t take it that way.  “It’s true that you’re not like before, but things can still get better! And I don’t mind helping as much as I need to!”  Eugeo said. “Don’t start thinking you’re a burden, because you’re not, you hear me? And you never will be!” Eugeo continued, his voice becoming louder and more impassioned.

“O-oh… Thanks…”  Kirito said, feeling a bit of heat come to his cheeks.  Those words were... much more comforting than he’d expected.  As if he’d wanted to hear them, but hadn’t wanted to admit it.

“You’re welcome,”  Eugeo said, as he stopped and outstretched his arms, clearly wanting a hug.  Kirito gladly accepted, noting how Eugeo’s strength and warmth became so readily obvious as he melted into the embrace.  
  
“I’m just so glad you’re back…”  Eugeo said quietly.

“It’s… good to be back,”  Kirito said. “It’s… strange.  Part of why it doesn’t seem like it’s been so long is that it feels like more happened in my sleep.  Like dreams that I can’t really remember.”  
  
“...Were they at least… fun?  Or nice?” Eugeo asked, frowning as the embrace ended.  Kirito did his best to hide his disappointment that it had.

“I think… sometimes?”  Kirito said. “I remember that when I first woke up, I was more confused than relieved.  So maybe that’s a good sign. If they were bad, I would’ve felt more afraid, or more happy that they were over.”  
  
“That’s a good point,”  Eugeo agreed with a soft smile, as he steadily began the walk again, slowly enough for Kirito to keep up.  “I can’t imagine dreaming for years on end… I’m lucky to have those dreams where you wake up and Alice comes back…”  Eugeo said wistfully. “They’re kinda sad, especially to wake up from, but… they keep me going. And if half the dream came true, then maybe…”  Eugeo started, before going quiet.

“...She’ll be able to come back some day,”  Kirito said, with quiet conviction. Part of him felt like it was a platitude… but for some reason, part of him really believed it.  “Maybe… you could even go and get her…”  
  
“Maybe _we_ could go get her,”  Eugeo corrected. “Like I said, you’re not useless!  You can still keep getting better every day!” Eugeo told him, eyes burning with conviction.

Kirito felt his heartbeat briefly speed up.  Probably a side-effect of his strength potions.  But to think, someone believed in him so much… Even after he not only failed to save Alice, but got himself hurt and forced Eugeo to be alone for so long… And if his memory actually served for once, he was pretty sure it was his stupid idea to go collect ice in the End Mountains to start with.

Regardless, Kirito brushed it off, and the two continued on their way.

* * *

 

More weeks steadily ticked by.  To Kirito’s pleasure, he found that Eugeo was right about his capacity to improve.  Things were slowly but surely getting easier, he was able to wean off of taking potions, and he’d taken to simply carrying the cane on his back most of the time.  His family was doing pretty well too, considering that his compensation was still continuing even after he’d woken up.

It also created an interesting opportunity for Kirito, given the nature of Callings in the event of such incidents.  If circumstances outside of someone’s control made their Calling too infeasible, they were allowed to pick something else, still within their capability.  Of course, there were more limitations to what such an avenue allowed for, compared to the higher and more privileged honor of choosing a new Calling after actually completing one… but for Kirito’s purposes, he was more than satisfied.

Even having woken up and recovered significantly, it was pretty clear that Kirito’s Calling just wasn’t a good fit anymore.  Eugeo’s physical strength had totally eclipsed his in every way, but Eugeo’s progress on the tree was merely a cut above the glacially slow average…  So it stood to reason that Kirito’s was even more utterly nonexistent. The only practical use of him hitting the tree was as a form of exercise.

By extension, the whole experience told Kirito that he’d be better off not choosing anything else dealing with raw strength and endurance either… and he needed to flex his mind anyway, given that he’d been out of action for so long.  Education wasn’t exactly impeccable in such a humble village, but he’d still missed out on over five years.

On the other hand, that wasn’t quite as horrible as it looked at first glance, because he’d gathered from the town that he’d always been exceptionally smart as a kid.  It was to the point that it seemed to be one of the traits everyone remembered most. Without a fixed grade system or large school, he’d been able to advance freely at his own pace.  Ultimately, that meant he was really less than two years behind the norm… so if his brain had indeed been preserved and repaired well enough, it was still completely feasible for him to eventually catch up in that regard.

To that end, he decided to study sacred arts… Like Alice used to.  With his compensation funds, it was no problem.

He figured it was a good option.  Sacred arts were more about focusing and channeling mental and environmental energy, rather than your own actual strength and stamina, although you did need at least _some_ in order to handle the influx of power.  Besides that, they also required a lot of calculations, practice, and planning… sort of tedious, but Kirito figured it was a good motivator for sharpening his mind.  Studies being rewarded with tangible results was better than studying things he’d nearly never use.  
  
Still, something felt a little… weird.  
  
Sacred arts were the same thing that put him in a coma, after all…  but also the thing that saved him. The caster of the former was someone who was supposed to be one of the most virtuous and disciplined in the entire land…

Why was it ever even permissible to use an offensive art on a young child, anyway?  When was an eleven-year-old ever actually that great of a threat?  
  
Even though the whole process felt a little ironic, sacred arts were at least inherently bound to the teachings of the church… So hopefully, studying them could also provide an avenue to further answers when it came to the supposedly infallible ‘logic’ of the church.

Things he could potentially exploit if he and Eugeo wanted to get Alice back...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, the ‘real world’ doesn’t exist here. The Underworld essentially is a real world now. But for a semi-similar effect, Kirito goes into a coma here.
> 
> You can think of this as a sort of ‘pilot’ chapter, which is why it isn’t too long or complex. I still have details to work out and things to think about. This is my first time ever writing anything for SAO, so I’m trying to ease my way into it.
> 
> Also, I’m gonna change character details around some, often for the sake of variety and personal appeal, but hopefully in ways that still make sense.
> 
> So, Kirito is gonna be a bit more withdrawn/awkward/nerdy here, given that his coma made him kind of ‘out of step’ with the rest of society. Also, he now has none of the experience of series that already happened, so that’s going to affect him and the story significantly as we go.
> 
> Eugeo is still largely like he was in personality, but he’s more obviously muscular than Kirito, like the light novel says. (I haven’t actually read that yet, I’ve just read *about* it) After all, Kirito was bedridden and Eugeo’s life work involves chopping down a giant super tree. Also, Eugeo never forgot about Kirito in this continuity, so that’s bound to have an effect on him too.
> 
> There's a sort of mandatory slow burn here, because I don't want to rush Kirito into a relationship while he's trying to recover and catch up. So please bear with me... you'll get plenty of Soft platonic shit in the meantime.


	2. Gardener

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirito is making great strides with his recovery, and the sacred arts... but not all is well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it'd be longer before I got Back On My Bullshit, but I realized there's still more I can add relatively easily before I'll probably have to take a longer break to really sort out the meat of this story. (and work on my other stuff)
> 
> So here, take this. It's chock full of Vitamin Gay.
> 
> Also actually pretty violent and kinda fucked up, but hopefully that'll be alright with you.

All in all, about eight months passed in a relatively steady rhythm.  It'd been winter when Kirito woke up, putting things in the latter half of fall.

By the Gigas Cedar, Kirito had set up a sort of makeshift shooting range and experimentation zone for his sacred arts, allowing him to spend more time with Eugeo… Although he knew full well that the area around the tree was actually one of the worst places to train the arts, because of its massive propensity for draining natural resources.

One would think that it'd be possible to simply drain the energy back out, if you were a skilled enough mage… but the tree's avarice was a thing of infamy and renown, the nature of its wood absolutely perfect for trapping massive volumes of its natural energy.  Less like a sponge, more like an impregnable safe.

But as with most serious users of sacred arts, Kirito had taken the time to start dabbling in herbalism and gardening as well, since plant life was an integral part of most sacred arts.

Various plants, much like the Gigas Cedar on a smaller and more practical scale, absorbed and concentrated the blessings of Terraria and Solus.  But unlike the case with Gigas, the energy was free to be taken again, with the plants providing a convenient stockpile of it. Different plants had different levels of benefit, depending on the species.  For example, even though there were still plenty of plants around the Gigas Cedar, it was mostly a broad grassland, and all the grasses, shrubs, and flowers available in the area were adapted to get by on very little natural energy.  By extension, it tended to make them very poor for the arts.

So, with some herb gathering and a small garden in his yard, along with some indoor planters for colder months, Kirito did at least have a modest but self-renewing stockpile of potions and dried powders to provide more energy for sacred arts.  Therefore, his teachers had accepted his decision to practice by the tree so often, since Kirito had been able to explain it as “challenging himself”... although he suspected they still knew the _real, biggest_ reason, they probably accepted on the grounds that his other reason was still truthful.  It did force him to learn more about resource management and efficiency, and it also helped push him to absorb power over a wider radius. 

Even though Kirito hadn’t yet become terrifyingly strong by any means, he was frequently praised for his great potential, and for making progress much faster as usual.  And out of what he could already do, a lot of it already had practical merit.

Kirito could make ice to help preserve their lunches, and make heat and steam to warm what was necessary, something that was always a little bittersweet… Back then, if he’d just been patient enough for Alice to learn how to make ice, that whole situation would have never happened…  Sure, ice generated with magic tended to melt a little more easily than usual, but it was still a perfectly viable solution.

On the other hand, it was infinitely better than the alternative of eating old bread from the bakery, especially for Eugeo.  Kirito knew he needed a lot of nutrients, chopping the tree all day… there was no way he was really getting enough if he was only eating bread for lunch.  Kirito’s practice was tiring too, but not to the same degree, because he was simply absorbing and repurposing most of the power he needed.

Still, it was impossible for mortals to use the arts to indefinitely avoid food and rest.  You could never achieve high enough efficiency for such a thing. Trying to ‘hold’ an excess for too long was increasingly uncomfortable, and inherently futile.  It would all eventually drain away no matter what. It was the whole reason why potions and herbs were a necessity.  
  
Regardless, Kirito could at least temporarily enhance Eugeo’s speed and stamina, allowing him to finish the daily quota ever-sooner as Kirito improved.  Kirito had gotten all the way up to saving him about 90 minutes per day, with that method.

With that extra time, they typically just relaxed and goofed off.  There was no real concept of “extra credit” when it came to the tree, after all.

During one extended lunch break, Eugeo had drifted off to sleep while lying next to the tree, which didn’t really surprise Kirito… With the effort woodcutting took, Eugeo did regularly eat almost twice as much as him, after all.  It wasn’t for nothing, either. Kirito could tell Eugeo had gotten even stronger and almost certainly a touch taller since Kirito woke up. Probably at least partly _because_ he was finally eating proper lunches again.  Neither Selka or Suguha had enough time to bring lunches like Alice used to, but Kirito’s modified Calling combined with his good standing among his teachers offered him enough freedom to do so.

Kirito knew there was no rush in waking his friend, so he took a moment to simply sit next to him and read a book on umbral magic while Eugeo slept… only for Eugeo to unconsciously lean over just enough that he ended up asleep on Kirito’s shoulder.  
  
Kirito didn’t know why it made his heart briefly skip a beat, but it undeniably did.  Then immediately did again, the moment he looked over at Eugeo... He couldn’t help it.  Even with Kirito unable to actually look at him head on, he just seemed like… the very definition of peace.  He was warm, his breathing was steady and gentle… Light filtered through the Gigas from above, and the way it hit his hair made it look so… _beautiful._ Like silken gold.

Kirito flinched and squirmed a bit when he realized what an odd thought that was to have.  It was just hair. It wasn’t like he’d never seen sunlight on hair before. And thinking something like _‘silken gold’_?  What was he, some kind of corny poet?  He must’ve been reading too much flowery prose in his studies.

Not realizing just how sudden his movements were, Kirito held his breath and instantly went still when Eugeo stirred a bit in his sleep… only to reach up around the back of Kirito’s neck and shoulders to pull him in a bit closer.  Kirito didn’t resist, his whole body was too busy locking up in shock for that. Eugeo mumbled a bit as he repositioned his head a little, seeming to find satisfaction once he got back to a fully comfortable position.  
  
“Don’ go…” Eugeo blearily muttered in his sleep, sounding mildly disappointed.  Heat rushed to Kirito’s face almost instantly. His heartbeat was faster than ever.   
  
Was Eugeo awake? Was that just him being half-asleep?  It probably was, but what if he was just faking sleep?!  Did he know what he just did? Why did it feel like such a big deal, anyway?  It was only… only Eugeo readjusting for comfort… So why did that make Kirito feel so flustered?  Maybe it was what he said… Even if it probably wasn’t even aimed at Kirito. It was probably just him dreaming.  Yeah, something like that seemed more logical. There was _no way_ he was really telling _Kirito_ not to go, right?

Kirito did his best to just focus on deep breathing.  It wasn’t too hard to believe that Eugeo was in a deep enough sleep to do something like that.  Casting blessings on someone often tended to make them a bit more tired later on, in exchange for benefiting them in the moment.  Still, the benefit gained upfront was typically much greater than the tiredness incurred later.

Kirito relaxed further, feeling his eyes droop a little… Sacred arts absorbed energy, but in the long run, they exhausted the user…  
  
Eugeo was so warm… his arm around Kirito’s shoulders… it was so nice…  The tree provided just enough shade, and it was a bit cool outside, but just warm enough with Eugeo next to him…  Kirito briefly fought himself. He needed to be the one to wake Eugeo up… but… they were so well ahead of schedule…

Kirito leaned a bit more towards Eugeo and steadily shut his eyes.  
  
There was… a voice.   
  
Emanating from a vast glowing tree, in a sea of empty black.  Nothing but the tree, Kirito, and Eugeo, as far as Kirito could see.   
  
Kirito only knew there even _was_ a ground because he could see countless roots extending from the tree, all glowing a light pastel green, snaking through whatever strange cosmic aether was beneath his feet.   
  
The voice persisted.  Kirito could barely make it out.  Eugeo was still asleep.   
  
Kirito carefully pressed his ear to the bark, and _listened._ _  
_ _  
_ _“Please stop,”_ came the voice, something like an old… man?  Woman? Person? Definitely elderly, but not… weak. Not the sound of someone whose life was truly dwindling. It was more… intentionally restrained, Kirito would say.  Patient. Deliberately so.   
  
_“Stop what?”_  Kirito softly asked.   
  
“ _It hurts,”_ came the voice.  “ _Please stop hurting me.”_

 _“...You mean… cutting you down?”_  Kirito asked, voice still quiet.  He was still afraid to wake Eugeo.   
  
_“It hurts,”_ the voice repeated. _“No more.”_   
  
_“But… we have to…”_ Kirito replied   
  
_“Why?”_   
  
_“Because... that’s our job,”_  Kirito replied.   
  
_“Why?”_ the voice repeated, slightly more loudly, almost mournfully. _“What have I done wrong?”_   
  
Kirito opened his mouth to answer, but found himself caught between whether apology or explanation would be the best thing to start with, and found himself awake again before he could say much of anything.

Eugeo woke up too, flinching immediately when he realized the position he and Kirito were in.

* * *

  
“S-sorry!”  Eugeo immediately cried.   
  
“No, no it’s alright!  It’s completely fine!” Kirito hurriedly replied, knowing Eugeo would probably never do something like that again if he gave even the slightest indication that he didn’t like it.  “It was…” Kirito wanted to outright say he enjoyed it, but… “It was a little cold out here anyway,” was what came out, and he could only hope that was still direct enough.

“Still, I didn’t mean to lean all over you like that without even asking…”  Eugeo said.

“I was tired too, really…”  Kirito said, which caused Eugeo’s eyes to widen a bit in realization.  
  
“Wait, if you went to sleep too… what time is it now?”  Eugeo said, quickly looking up at the sky and the position of the sun. “Damn, that was at least two hours!  Now I’m behind!” Eugeo cried.   
  
“If I just use more potions than usual, I should be able to catch you back up without any overtime…”  Kirito said. “I’ve been stockpiling extra, so it’s not a big deal.”   
  
“But that’ll be harder on you too.  You’ve told me before that even with more natural energy, your body still has to expend its own energy to guide and process it,”  Eugeo said. “Just go home at the usual time, I’ll be fine on my own for a little while.”   
  
“No, I should’ve woken you up sooner.  So I’ll help you out here,” Kirito said, just a hint of stubbornness in his tone.  Eugeo sighed in defeat.   
  
“Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Eugeo said with a small frown.   
  
“You worry too much,”  Kirito said with a smirk, patting Eugeo on the shoulder.   
  
“Well, you did literally go into a coma…  I think I earned the right to worry…” Eugeo said, pouting a little.   
  
“Point taken,”  Kirito responded with a slight frown, although it didn’t stop him from standing up and taking a deep breath as he prepared to start the incantations.   
  
Eugeo picked up on his readiness and quickly rose to his feet as well, picking up the axe and taking his typical stance in front of the tree.   
  
Kirito took a deep breath, relaxed his entire body, and prepared the usual, a three-part blessing, intent shaped through a series of sacred words and deep focus.  His mind cleared, he outstretched his right hand, and he focused purely on his target… Eugeo. Eugeo, with his beautiful hair, kind eyes, and soft voice… Eugeo with his broad shoulders, and strong arms…  Eugeo, always there to support him, always by his side, always making him feel better…   
  
Kirito blushed a bit as power began to build at his fingertips… On one hand, the thoughts were a little odd… but… emotional energy could empower the arts too…  Maybe… maybe this was an excuse to indulge them? Trying to fight them would only cloud his mind, after all...   
  
Ultimately, Kirito decided to give in, doing his best to just leave those thoughts as they were and focus on the process.  First, infuse Eugeo with natural energy… then, properly allocate that power, spread it through his whole body to stimulate his muscles and sharpen his reflexes at the same time…  Sense Eugeo’s body and Eugeo’s life force as if it were his own… Scry into it, and seek its cooperation… Blessings were about seeking the spirit’s consent and cooperation, in order to get it to accept the influence of your arts and go with their flow.  Trying to _oppose_ someone’s flow was far harder, and could even have disastrous results.   Finally, once that was complete, Kirito used what power was left over to manipulate the wind, making Eugeo and his axe lighter and faster still.     
  
With his free hand, Kirito took dried herbs from his pocket and began steadily crushing and scattering them, the particles glowing light green as they swirled around him, relinquishing all of their trapped energy before dimming and crumbling even further, into nothing but an inert dust on the breeze.  As they dimmed, Eugeo seemed to glow brighter and brighter, but without any signs of discomfort. An excellent sign.

After a moment, and a couple sentences of whispered utterances, the magic was complete.

Eugeo’s axe tore into the tree with over twice the force and thrice the strike rate of usual,  Eugeo actually laughing a bit at the surge of exhilarating power pulsing through his veins. It was almost like a more literal version of how Kirito made him feel anyway.  More alive, more alert. Like the world opened up to him, and he could suddenly do so much more, things he’d never even dreamed of before.

Somewhat nearby, but well out of sight, something’s sensitive ears twitched as it detected the use of strong sacred arts.  The steady, rhythmic flow of ambient natural power as it moved to equalize its distribution through the world, towards the area of lower density created by a user of the sacred arts.  Almost like a breeze, but born of arcane power and not wind.

In one of the few shrubs in the area, it scattered a foul potpourri of crushed bones, scales, fungus, and roots.

The shrub visibly drooped and became a bit less vibrant, almost as if sickened.  For a brief moment, the dust of crushed components glowed a sickly green.

The creature darted to a closer shrub, its true form obscured into a vague shade dashing through the grass, making it far harder to detect.  
  
It did it again.  And again.   
  
From its new vantage point, it watched carefully.   
  
The sky was growing dark, but it didn’t care.  Its eyes were more than used to such things.   
  
None the wiser, Kirito cast his final enchantments of the day upon Eugeo, motes of light swirling around him, still holding power yet to be fully used.  He begrudgingly acknowledged to himself that Eugeo was right. He was getting tired enough that he hadn’t been able to put his all into that string of incantations, even though he was only periodically casting between longer periods of reading and rest.

Eugeo looked towards him in mild worry, eyes softening even in spite of the rush of power surging through him… But paused.  Kirito in the midst of his artistry was really… something. The soft green motes of light still swirling around him, the look of focus on Kirito’s face… The refinement of his pose, the sparks of power in his eyes… When Eugeo put it all together, Kirito was…  
  
Kirito was truly, utterly...   
  
Eugeo’s breath caught.  He quickly turned and began unleashing his pent-up feelings upon the tree instead, before Kirito could notice anything was amiss.

As the enchantment wore off, Eugeo finally stopped, panting heavily as he relaxed his stance.  “That should do it,” Eugeo said, as he turned towards Kirito and beamed at him. “You make this so much easier!  A nap that long, and we can still go home on time!”

“Well, it’s mostly you.  Because of how enchantments work with your body, you need a strong base to make the most of them, and not be overwhelmed,”  Kirito said.

“Don’t be modest!”  Eugeo said, clapping Kirito on the shoulder.  “At this point, you’re easily one of our best sacred artists!”

Kirito couldn’t help but feel his stomach flip at that compliment.  He’d heard other people say similar things, but somehow, if it was Eugeo saying it…

“I try,”  Kirito said with a sheepish grin, doing his best to react casually.

The being watching gave a massive grin.  Their mouth of jagged, discolored teeth wasn’t unlike some sort of disease-ridden bear trap. 

So… one of the best sacred artists, was he?  
  
Strong, but not too strong… Small village, minimal protection…  A place where humans seemed soft, kind, trusting...

What a wonderful sacrifice _that_ would make, flesh so full of natural energy! Bones so useful for the arts!  And what fine stew!

The being excitedly trailed them, making sure not to be discovered as they made sure to take note of where the sacred artist lived, scrawling it on a crude, makeshift map with a stick of charcoal… Pleased to note that it was small, and had no security to speak of.  
  
Kirito and Eugeo peacefully slept like logs that night, both of them exhausted from their respective efforts.

That night, Kirito had an odd dream.  He was in yet another formless expanse… but alone.  Not even the tree was with him.  
  
“ _Do you remember the long sleep, little gardener?”_ came a sudden, formless voice.  Without true age, without true gender, without true accent.  It shifted constantly, impossible for Kirito to fully pin down.  If anything… if it sounded like anything at all, he’d have to say it sounded like _himself_ the most. 

But even then, only just a sliver more. _  
_ _  
_ _“The long sleep… the coma, you mean?”_ Kirito responded, as he stood upon a black sea of stars. _  
_ _  
_ _“What else could there be?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“I… suppose?  I had dreams, but I don’t remember any of those…”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“I can only hope you’ll remember them soon, dear gardener.  Such important lessons to be had.”_

“ _What?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Haven’t you realized? You spoke to the tree, the avaricious demon that towers over your fields.  Takes and takes, never giving so much as a scrap. Or is that really all there is to it?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“What do you mean by that?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“You’re the gardener, little one.  You figure it out.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Huh?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Soon, preferably.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Wait, what are you even talking about?  Who are you?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“It is the nature of life to live only in the ways it knows how.  But you, little gardener… you will show them new ways. And in turn, you too will see new ways to live.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Wha-”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“But this garden… it’s unsightly.  It has so many weeds. So many pests, so many parasites, so much blight and rot.  So, little gardener. If you want to learn those ways of life… want to teach those ways… want to understand the life you must so meticulously curate... first, you must suffer.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Kirito quickly opened his mouth to question that, but he woke up before he could.   
  
The next day, everything seemed completely normal.  Kirito told Eugeo about his dream, but neither of them could really parse what it could possibly mean.  Maybe it was just from a combination of Kirito reading a bunch of arcane books and tending his herbs and flower beds.  His mind was just sort of mashing things together. That was probably it.

The little creature from yesterday, still watching them carefully, went completely undetected…  
  
And so did all the comrades they brought, quietly sequestering themselves in all the dark nooks and crannies of the village they could find, silently cloaking and waiting for the signal.   
  
The churches were where the greatest qualities and concentrations of sacred artists typically were, but they were too risky.  Too ambitious.   
  
A scrawny human teenager, alone in his room in a completely normal little house?   
  
Perfect. 

* * *

Kirito awoke in the dead of night to the sound of a broken window and many snarling, slavering mouths.  The feel of many deft little clawed hands, scrabbling and scratching and grasping. The cut and sting of a dagger, clearly poisoned from the way his vision blurred and the room spun after only a shallow cut.  The feel of being crudely bound and gagged, helpless to resist as he could neither call for help or speak any incantations. The pungent scent of the crushed and ground-up components used by the foul little creatures for their arts.  

The next day, Eugeo was awoken early, by his weeping mother.  The sun wasn’t even truly up yet, but Eugeo knew something terrible had happened.  His mother confirmed his fears, and revealed it was worse than he’d imagined.  
  
Kirito had been taken by goblins.   
  
As quickly as possible, people sprung into action… but with the size Rulid was, on top of the incredibly short notice, the force mustered to get Kirito back was small and essentially jury-rigged together.  They had to leave as quickly as possible if they wanted to be able to actually get Kirito back before he crossed into the dark territory. That meant there were only eight men in total, including Eugeo. Mostly 35 and over.  Eugeo and one other, an unpleasant young man named Zink… they were the youngest.   
  
They didn’t really even have proper weapons.  Eugeo had his dragonbone axe, the others were just a stereotypical cluster of torches, pitchforks, and weaker axes for more conventional woodcutting.  There was one actual, proper sword between them all.   
  
Eugeo didn’t feel _great_ about their odds, and it really irritated him, but it seemed there was no other choice.  Overthinking it just gave the goblins more time to get away.  He grit his teeth and prepared for the worst.

They set off as quickly as they could.  Eugeo lead the pack, but not in any sense of leadership… just in desperation to reach Kirito.  It was to the point that the others struggled to keep up, which only irritated him further… even if they rightfully pointed out that despite the urgency, they still needed to pace themselves if they wanted to have enough stamina to properly face the goblins.  It seemed like a ridiculous prospect in the first place. He’d heard there were goblins in recent times, but he’d honestly thought it was all a bunch of rumors. And for them to come after _Kirito_ of all people in particular… It was truly a living nightmare.

After a while of frantic running and jogging along, the group finally reached the caves, keeping pace as best they could.  They were beginning to hear the goblins. Eugeo wasn’t even sure whether or not goblins knew that the Taboo Index made it nearly impossible for humans to willingly enter the Dark Territory.  
  
If they did, there was the terrifying possibility that they’d figure out that all they’d have to do was get Kirito over the divide and retreat, and then he’d be essentially impossible to save.   
    
As much as Eugeo didn’t want to have to fight at all, he found himself praying that the goblins would be too prideful and choose to stay and fight, as well as keep Kirito within the cave.  It was their only real chance.

Luckily, and unluckily, Eugeo got his wish.  
  
In the ice caves, the group came upon a worryingly large group of goblins, about a few dozen in total. Eugeo trembled with an odd mix of rage and terror alike as the goblins all sneered at the men, knowing they had them outnumbered.  There wasn’t even a great amount of room to maneuver, such was the number of goblins in the icy chamber… Then there was the dragon skeleton too, taking up even more room. The goblins had clearly been looting the treasure. But Kirito was there too. Bruised, exhausted, tied up, and thrown on a cart.  And that was what mattered most.

* * *

 

The battle began.  
  
It didn’t go well.   
  
The lack of much formal training for essentially every man involved almost instantly became obvious.  They all got good hits and some good kills in regardless, given that most goblins weren’t especially impressive… but the goblins had such numbers, along with poison knives, and even a good bit of magic.   
  
Eugeo managed to kill his third one, a stubborn little thing that clamped its fetid teeth down on his leg… The fight so far had been hectic, leading him to roughly the center of the icy chamber.  He winced in pain, and grimaced when he realized how much the latest goblin bite was bleeding.  
  
There was no way they’d win…   
  
Kirito would be gone forever.   
  
Eugeo bit back tears as he looked up at a great weapon in front of him… one that had gone unused, no one in the room worthy of its awesome power.   
  
A greataxe, hewn of legendary ice, decorated with a blue rose.   He'd seen it the first time he came to the cave.  Wanted to take it home, but never gotten around to it.  Never worked up the conviction.  
  
It was such an unthinkable longshot… but otherwise, they probably wouldn’t win anyway, right?  And he was strong, even if it was just from chopping wood all day, combined with exercise designed to help him chop said wood at least a little bit faster.

All the fighting around Eugeo was buying him a bit of time.  If he could wield it even just briefly, and reach the leader of the goblin troop, the massive one with bulging muscle...

Eugeo reached out and grabbed the greataxe.  Silently pleaded with it as he rooted his stance and lifted it with both hands… but still found it was like lifting something made of pure lead, with yet more lead anchored onto it to boot.  He steeled his resolve and quietly pleaded further, with himself, with the axe, with any god that would listen. Part of him already knew it would probably never work. It was already so horrendously heavy… but if he couldn’t do it, he was still doomed anyway.

 _“Child,”_ came a sudden voice, in his mind.  Husky and somewhat feminine. “What in the world are you doing?”  
  
_“I…”_  Eugeo started, responding mentally.   _“Who are you?”_ _  
_

_“I am the dragon slain by this greataxe.  By a foul, foul knight who forgot the way of this world.  Who betrayed me when we most needed to work together. My very blood is frozen into this weapon’s icy make, and so I have cursed it until the end of time.  My curse is for one purpose, and one purpose alone. To prevent any knight from wielding it ever again. But you are no knight, child. Why do you seek this axe?”_ _  
_   
_“I… need to save my friend!  My best friend in the entire world!”_ _  
_   
_“I see your desperation, child… I feel your strength.  But are you not aware that as you are now, you could hardly wield this axe at all?  That you could very well drop it and slice your own foot off, before you slay even a single monster?”_ _  
_   
_“I-I know!  I know that, but I don’t care!  I need to do at least something!  If I can’t fight these goblins, my friend will die, and everyone else that came to rescue him will die too!  I… I almost lost Kirito once already! I can’t do this again! I wouldn’t ever be able to handle it, I just know I wouldn’t!  Even the last time was almost too much!”_ Eugeo mentally screamed.

 _“...I understand. After all… it’s always been my duty to protect the good among humanity as well.  So. …If you are not one of the foul knights, but you’d risk your life for this goal… There may be a way after all,”_ the dragon said. _  
_   
_“How?!”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“For now, lift the axe.  I’ll handle the rest. There will be pain.  The power you seek is not a blessing, but it is the only way,”_

Eugeo didn’t bother to question that further, merely feeling a surge of relief when the axe suddenly seemed to grow several times lighter than it was before… But that relief was almost immediately stymied by a surge of intense pain shooting up through his arms, as if the axe’s hilt had bitten deep into the flesh of his hands.  
  
There was a feeling then as if Eugeo's arms had been set ablaze with cold flame… and to a lesser extent, his whole body.  Eugeo nearly dropped the axe, mortified that any one weapon could be so painful… but it continued to speak.   
  
“There’s not much time.  This is the price you have to pay to wield this foul weapon, child.  Life and pain in great measure. Let us walk purgatory together now, child.  To cleanse this weapon’s sins… and to punish these sinners.”  
  
Eugeo gave an enormous, feral, roaring scream as power and agony alike coursed through his body.  It resounded through the entire cave, sounding almost like the dragon themself.

The goblins receded slightly, and everyone’s fighting became tense and slow, fear briefly gripping them all…  
  
In that brief lull, Eugeo lunged, and again he roared.   
  
A goblin’s head came off as if it were attached by only a toothpick.

Another lunge. Another head.  Another. Another. _Another._   
  
Others watched in unwavering shock and morbid awe as Eugeo continued like that, tearing through necks and limbs without pause, consumed entirely by pain and desperation.

One goblin begged, gibbering and pleading in common tongue and bestial groans alike.  Eugeo cleaved his skull.  
  
One seemed barely old enough to be there. They were whimpering, cowering behind fallen comrades. They made a token effort to resist with their short blade.  It shattered, after the briefest resistance. But as for their head, Eugeo carved through _that_ easily enough.   
  
One tried to play dead, covering themself in blood.  The trembling gave it away. They were bisected before Eugeo could think further on it. The burning pain pulsing through him discouraged much further thought on anything.

Before he knew it, Eugeo stood before the goblin chief.  At least twice as tall as the rest, and far stronger. A hatred burned in their yellow eyes.  
  
Eugeo’s eyes, equally yellow and with slit pupils, held far more hatred than that.   
  
The dragon laughed a long, unnatural laugh from within the axe.   
_  
_ _“Finally… finally, after so long…  I rise to slay evil once more!”_

Eugeo lunged at the chief, all other goblins either too occupied or too terrified to help their leader.  
  
There were great, crashing blows from the leader’s massive weapon, more like an oversized meat cleaver than a sword.  It was just as good at bludgeoning as it was cutting.   
  
Eugeo felt like his bones were cracking just from the effort of blocking and parrying.  But still, he carried on, hissing and snarling, plumes of unnaturally cold air billowing from his mouth as his breathing grew ragged.   
  
The chieftain slashed at Eugeo’s shoulder, his face, his stomach, but he didn’t stop.  A will that both was and wasn’t his own suppressed the pain. The wounds seemed to freeze over as soon as they were inflicted.

Finally, an opening.  Eugeo lopped off one of the brute’s arms in short order, suddenly becoming eerily calm.  His senses tightened. The pain fell away even more, and so did the rest of the world.  
  
In that moment, he and his opponent were all that there was.  Kill them. Save Kirito. The only two things that mattered in the slightest. 

Eugeo ducked a clumsy attempt to swing the massive cleaver one-handed, and then swung straight into the beast’s meaty stomach.  
  
The chieftain let out a guttural, blood-curdling scream as he steadily dropped to one knee, and then completely to the icy floor.   
  
Eugeo, after just one more deep, painful breath, lopped off his head and then proceeded to Kirito.  He tried his best to run, but it was a staggered, heaving sort of pace, more of a hobbling jog than anything.   
  
With every step, the axe grew heavier, and heavier still.  But he didn’t dare let it go.   
  
A little more.   
  
A little longer.

He finally made it, swinging at whatever goblins were foolish enough to think they could capitalize on his fatigue, after what seemed like an eternity.  Kirito stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes as Eugeo briefly set the axe down against the cart, then picked up a spare sword and used it to free him from his restraints.  Kirito quickly removed the gag as well, sighing in deep relief as he sat up.

“Eugeo, thank Stacia you’re here…”  Kirito breathlessly said.

“Kirito…’  Eugeo said with a small smile, voice strained.  “...I’m… I’m so sorry…” Eugeo said softly, before promptly collapsing.  
  
Kirito’s eyes widened as he immediately got off the cart and kneeled down next to him, before lifting a hand against the goblins.   
  
Cyan light accumulated at his fingertips and reflected in his eyes.  He warily felt at his pockets with his free hand, realizing with irritation that they’d taken his herb pouch and potions… but it didn’t really matter anyway.  
  
The life energy of so many dead, dying, and injured goblins filled the cave, no longer restrained to just their bodies and souls.  No longer requiring their cooperation or conquest to be utilized.   
  
Ripe for the taking, permission or not.

One goblin stepped forward.  Took another step. There weren’t many of them left, but still it tried to be defiant.  
  
Kirito’s eyes fixed on it with a cold, predatory regard.   
  
A cave full of life energy was great, but things would be even better with more concentrated sources to cast from.  And they _did_ take all the plants he had on hand...

There was warning in Kirito’s eyes, in the brightening and enlargement of the five nodes of cyan light on his fingertips.  In his whispers of power as he concentrated the abundant icy energies of the cave. But the goblin didn’t listen. It convinced two comrades that they could take him, that he’d been easy to capture so he’d be easy to defeat here too.  They lunged.   
  
For their troubles, five arrows of frigid light soundly pierced multiple points of their bodies, then ten, then fifteen, in three rapid volleys.  All without killing them, all too quickly to react. Freezing the wounds to prevent them from bleeding out too soon.   
  
Kirito quickly took the goblins and dragged them over to him and Eugeo.  More strings of whispered utterances drove stakes of ice through their hands and feet, preventing their movement.

“Anyone else?”  Kirito said lowly.  The other goblins, finally wising up, turned tail and ran.  The other men either finished off their last opponents or were spared by them finally deciding on a collective retreat.  
  
The other men barely had time to react before Kirito was already chanting lowly, hand outstretched over Eugeo’s body, whitish-gold light building brighter and brighter.  A dark red light emanated from the other hand, hovering over the goblins.   
  
“Kirito, that’s-”  Zink started, eyes widening at the aura of black and blood red that emanated from his right hand. “That’s- you’re- how are you-”   
  
The three goblins gave a blood-curdling collective shriek.  Blood rose up off of their bodies in flecks and globules, transferring over to Eugeo as streams of golden light instead.  Zink didn’t know what else to say, and Kirito was clearly in no mood to answer either. He was completely invested in his art, and nothing else.  Zink may as well have not existed to him.

The bodies withered as Eugeo’s cuts and wounds steadily disappeared, Kirito sweating profusely as his limbs trembled and he willed the spell to keep going.  The others watched in silence, equal parts awed and terrified.

Finally, someone spoke.  “...There’s… there’s a spell like this in the church’s archives?”  
  
“No,”  someone responded. A fellow sacred artist, but not nearly as skilled, not with his regular life and family to focus on.  He hadn’t read even close to the entirety of the archive, but he at least knew there was no section at all for what Kirito was doing.  The unwilling transfer of life force. Something that should’ve been too much for him, even if there _was_ a sensible way he could’ve learned it.  “No there isn’t.”

Eugeo steadily regained consciousness as the spell continued its work, and caught the haunting sight of the three goblins next to him… All pinned in place, all weakly twitching and writhing and sobbing as they steadily withered away to nothing.  
  
There was such a twisted, wretched feeling of relief and contentment as their life and their strength filled his body, mended his wounds, soothed his aching muscles…  Set to their whispering pleas, their bulging eyes, the sight of their blood being taken and converted into ever more power, ever more life...

It was so sick, so wrong, so _wonderful…_

A tiny spark of sadism in the back of Eugeo’s mind found it morbidly satisfying, knowing that the monsters who took Kirito and likely planned to sacrifice him received such an ironic punishment.  
  
The rest of him…   
  
The rest of him didn’t know how to feel.

Finally, Kirito’s warped artistry, a strange patchwork somehow both sacred and unholy at once, faded.  Kirito gave a ragged wheeze, smiled down at Eugeo, and then offered to heal anyone else who needed it.  
  
The others were slightly wary… But if the source of their healing would merely be lowly goblins… They shrugged off the discomfort and came forward.  Eugeo got out of the way, watching warily.   
  
Finally, with the last of the wounds, Kirito gave a sigh of relief, wiping rivulets of sweat from his brow in spite of the deep chill of the cave.  He gave just a few more ragged gasps before he promptly passed out.

“Kirito!” Eugeo bent down and gingerly put Kirito over his shoulder, before briefly staring at the greataxe as well…  He frowned deeply as he caught his dirty reflection on the bloodied blades... But still, he decided to take it with him.   
  
Its touch still gave him a hint of burning pain, but he endured it, gathering that the pain wouldn’t be nearly as bad so long as he didn’t actually fight with it.   
  
As disturbing as it was, as strange as it felt to wield it…   
  
“I have a lot of questions for you,”  Eugeo muttered to the axe.   
  
_“I suppose you do,”_  the dragon cryptically responded.

Upon scrying into Kirito’s condition to confirm that he’d be alright, the rest of the men whooped and celebrated as they left the cave, praising Eugeo for his massive contribution, for the way he’d managed to wield the axe…

Eugeo still didn’t know how to feel.  Sort of sick and a little bit like crying, if anything.  He had Kirito back, but that was probably all that was holding him together.

Everyone ended up agreeing that it was probably best to keep quiet about the true nature of Kirito’s art.  If asked, they’d all been healed because the goblins had a stockpile of herbs and potions. That was all.  
  
“Come to think of it… Kirito… wasn’t _really_ born in Rulid, was he?”  Zink asked to no one in particular, as they exited the cave.  They were immediately welcomed by the afternoon sunlight, so bright and warm it almost made it seem as if nothing were wrong at all.   
  
“No.  On the day Eugeo and Alice were born… a third baby was found, right beneath the Gigas Cedar…”   
  
“We thought it was Vecta’s doing.  Nothing seemed strange about that child at all, but now…” one man replied.

“Let’s… let’s not jump to conclusions,”  another voice chimed in.

“Of course,” the man replied.  Once again, they were all silent.

As Kirito slept, he heard a voice.  
  
“ _Sometimes, little gardener… Things must be pruned to preserve what is truly beautiful.  You understand now, don’t you?”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“I understand,”_ Kirito said, softly.  “ _But I don’t know if I like it.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “ _Alas, little gardener.  It’s not a question of ‘liking’.  It’s a question of duty.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Duty?  But those goblins were… they were people too, in their own way.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“There is so much more for you to prune, little gardener.  Tender and protector, creator and destroyer. There is so much more for you to prune, and weed, and uproot.  So much more for you to destroy, so much more for you to chop and whittle away until it’s nothing at all. But you learned something important, didn’t you?  Perhaps the most important thing of all.”_ _  
_ _  
_ _“Destruction makes room for creation,”_ Kirito said quietly, almost unconsciously.

“ _Wonderful.  What a wonderful little gardener you are.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Kirito is more of a mage/cleric right now, but he’ll still become more swordsman-y as things progress.
> 
> I also decided that this story would be most logical if I made it so there’s still something unique about Kirito, especially given that the concept of a Taboo Index still exists. But this only gets into the surface of its actual meaning and purpose.
> 
> For a like, slightly better idea of how Eugeo and Kirito would physically compare in this universe, at least at the time of this chapter:
> 
> Kirito: 5’7/170 cm, 130 lbs/59 kg  
> Eugeo: 5’10/178 cm, 175 lbs/79.5 kg
> 
> BC Kirito is still kind of a noodle, but at least not borderline underweight anymore. Meanwhile, Eugeo is Stronk, especially with eating actual nutritious lunch again and not leftover bread.
> 
> The Blue Rose is a greataxe now because I said so… Or, to go into detail, so Eugeo and Kirito have a greater variance in how they fight. Something that I wanted but acknowledged was kind of impossible before, because Kirito was previously the one who trained him.
> 
> I also wanted to come up with a different reason why Kirito and Eugeo can suddenly wield the Blue Rose after like one (1) fight with some goblins, because not even the chief seemed like he was really enough to warrant becoming that much stronger that quickly.
> 
> I also like the idea of living weapons that you form bonds with, and Armament Full Control Art already makes the weapons kind of feel like Zanpakuto or some shit… So, with both of those reasons combined…
> 
> That’s why a dragon’s spirit is in the axe now, and Eugeo never did go drag the Blue Rose home. The dragon spirit essentially bonds with him to give him the power he needs to actually wield the axe.
> 
> I also changed the goblin thing because I really kind of hate the whole “rapist goblin” trope. I get that it’s supposed to be disturbing, but it’s just a little too edgy and over the top for my liking... or you could say it's just that I think it's the 'wrong kind' of edgy, since it's not like my alternative explanation isn't edgy.


End file.
